Why can't I log in to Symplectic Elements?

If you get a message like "Permission denied" or are having trouble logging into the Symplectic Elements system this might be for a number of reasons.

Please note, Raven authentication is used to access Elements, but there is no automatic connection between your Raven account (which might be live) and your access to Elements (which may never have been set up).

If you have logged in successfully in the past, but can't now...

Your account has become "inactive".

If you are still part of the University, this may be because you have, for example, changed contracts, moved from a studentship to a Research Associate post, or retired, and the information automatically transferred from the HR system has hit a snag on the way in. In almost all cases, your account can be easily reactivated: please contact researchinformation@admin.cam.ac.uk including your CRSID and details of your current role.

If you have left the University, your account will have been suspended based on your contract end date, even if your Raven access is still operational. If you need to submit an Open Access paper it may be more appropriate for someone else (for example a co-author, departmental administrator or a member of the Open Access team) to make the submission. Please consult your departmental contacts for advice first, or email the Open Access team on info@openaccess.cam.ac.uk

If this is the first time you have tried to access Elements...

Accounts in Elements are set up based on a feed from the central HR system which is limited to academic roles and in some cases, specific grades. This does not pick up "Affiliate" roles, and can get easily confused with some clinical grades and job titles. If you suspect this may be the case, or know that you are not in the central HR system, please contact us on researchinformation@admin.cam.ac.uk with details of your current role.

Graduate student accounts are created based on CAMSIS data and updated once a term.

Just started? The feed is applied every two weeks, so if you have started very recently, there may be a short delay before your account appears.

Visiting researchers: access to Elements is granted to individuals not directly employed by Collegiate Cambridge only in very exceptional circumstances.

If you simply need to submit an Open Access paper it may be more appropriate for someone else (for example a co-author, departmental administrator or a member of the Open Access team) to make the submission. Please consult your departmental contacts for advice first, or email the Open Access team on info@openaccess.cam.ac.uk, explaining that you are a Visiting Researcher, and that there is no current Cambridge author who is in a position to make the submission. Please note, the submission to the repository can be made by (or on behalf of) any author on the publication in question.

There are a number of specific omissions where accounts need to be requested and set up manually:

If you need to be able to access any of these systems on behalf of another person, or to be able to access potentially sensitive information about anyone other than yourself (individually or collectively) you will need specific permission to do so and various levels of access are available. To find out more about this please visit www.research-information.admin.cam.ac.uk/what-information-available/elements (and scroll right to the bottom of the page).

College staff: please email researchinformation@admin.cam.ac.uk with details of your current role, including contract start and expected end date and we will set up an account for you.